National Profile of the Jewish Electorate in 2020

August 25, 2020

Summary

At the request of the non-partisan Jewish Electorate Institute, researchers at the American Jewish Population Project at Brandeis University’s Steinhardt Social Research Institute conducted an analysis of hundreds of national surveys of US adults to describe the Jewish electorate in each of the 435 districts of the 116th  Congress and the District of Columbia. Surveys include the    American National Election Studies, the General Social Survey, Pew Political and social surveys, the Gallup Daily Tracking poll, and the Gallup Poll Social Series. Data from over 1.4 million US adults were statistically combined to provide, for each congressional district, estimates of the number of adults who self-identify as Jewish by age, education, race/ethnicity, as well as political party self-identification and political ideology. ¹

Key Findings

1.   The majority of the Jewish electorate is in four states – New York, California, Florida, and New Jersey.

There are over 1.2 million Jewish adults in New York state, nearly 900,000 in California, 722,000 in Florida and just over 400,000 in New Jersey.

2.   Jewish adults identify predominantly as liberal and with the Democratic Party.

The Democratic Party is the most popular political party among Jewish adults with a total of 65% identifying as or leaning toward the Democrats. About one in three Jewish adults identify as or lean Republican (29%) while just 4% identify as Independent who do not lean toward either party. Regardless of party self- identification, the majority (71%) of the Jewish electorate typically votes for the Democratic candidate in presidential elections. ²

A plurality of Jewish adults identify as liberal (45%) when asked about their political views. A little over a third of Jewish adults identify as moderate (36%), and about a fifth identify as conservative (19%).

3.   Jewish adults are also more likely to identify as Democrats and liberal when compared to the national average.

Nationally, half of US adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (50%) and about one-quarter identify as liberal (26%), far fewer than Jewish adults (65% and 45%, respectively).

4.   Most states have a majority (50% or more) of the Jewish electorate identifying as Democrats and the Democratic Party is the most popular party among Jewish adults in 44 states plus the District of Columbia.

The tendency among the Jewish electorate to identify with the Democratic Party is pervasive in American politics where 9 in 10 states show a plurality of Jewish adults identifying as Democrats.


5.   Approximately 1.8 million Jewish adults, just under one-third of the total Jewish electorate, live in twenty congressional districts.

Of the top twenty districts by Jewish population, nearly half are in New York — NY-10, NY-3, NY-12, NY-17, NY-4,NY-9, NY-6, NY-8, and NY-11.

The remaining districts with large Jewish populations are found in seven  states including Florida, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Massachusetts,  Maryland, and Pennsylvania. FL-21 has the greatest number of Jewish adults at 152,000. With the exception of NJ-4, these districts are represented by Democrats and all but two (NJ-4 and NJ-5) are Democratic-leaning districts.


6.  The Jewish electorate in districts with the largest Jewish populations also leans Democratic .

The percentage of Jewish adults who identify as Democrats ranges from 66% in NY-10 and 63% in NY-12 to a low of 42% in NY-4. In these districts where Jewish adults represent a strong Democratic base, an additional group ranging from 9% of Jewish adults in NY-10 to 17% of Jewish adults in districts FL-22 and FL-23 lean Democratic.³


7.  The Jewish electorate tends to be older than US adults overall.

In Florida, where just more than one-quarter (26%) of all adults are aged 65 years and older, over 40% of the Jewish electorate are aged 65 years or older. The pattern is similar in other states, including Arizona and Maryland where 35% and 33% of the Jewish electorate, respectively, are aged 65 years and older compared to 23% and 21% of all adults in those states.

8.  Congressional districts with the largest numbers of Jewish adults also have predominantly older Jewish populations.

In the top five districts outside of New York, over 50% of the Jewish electorate is age 55 or older. In FL-21, over 50% of the Jewish electorate is aged 65 years or older.


Conclusion

Results from the analysis of hundreds of independent surveys provide a portrait of the Jewish electorate across the 435 congressional districts of the 116th Congress both in terms of the size of the electorate, demographic composition of the electorate, as well as political orientation in terms of party self-identification and political views (liberal/conservative). New York,  Florida, and California  have the highest percentages of Jewish adults among the electorate, ranging from 24% in FL-21 (152,000 Jewish adults) and in NY-10 (151,000 Jewish adults) to 9% in MD-3 (54,000 Jewish adults). The Jewish electorate in these districts is predominantly older. Over 50% of the Jewish electorate in FL-21 is aged 65 years or older. Results also indicate that more Jewish adults identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party (65%) than as Republican (29%), and liberal (45%) than as conservative (19%).


¹ Methodology: Individual-level data from all surveys were combined using Bayesian Multilevel Modeling with Poststratification. Poststratification included geographic distributions of respondents by zip codes within congressional districts, and demographic characteristics of age, educational attainment, race/ethnicity, population density, as well as interactions of age by educational attainment, population density by age, and population density by educational attainment. Modeling is based to Jewish adults who self-identify as Jewish when asked about their religion. Estimates of “Total Jewish Adults” are obtained by adding to the model-based estimate, independent estimates of the percentage of Jewish adults who do not identify religiously as Jewish. This percentage can range from a low of 10% to a high of 30% depending on the region.

² Eleven of the surveys included in the AJPP data synthesis asked about voting in the previous presidential election. Meta-analysis of these eleven surveys indicated that just over 71% of Jewish adults voted for the Democratic candidate regardless of party self- identification. This estimate is identical to Pew Research Center’s analysis of national exit poll data (2016), which found that 71% of Jewish adults voted for the Democratic candidate (source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/09/how-the-faithful-voted-a- preliminary-2016-analysis/)

³ State-level proportion of Independents who lean Democrat or lean Republican applied to congressional districts.

Antisemitism is a warning sign. Are we listening?

By Eileen Filler-Corn • July 3, 2025
In the nearly two years since Hamas’s brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israel, American Jews have watched a disturbing rise in antisemitism take place across America — and crucially, among some of our longtime allies. For decades, Jewish Americans stood at the forefront of progressive causes, marching for civil rights, fighting for reproductive freedom and advocating for immigrants and the marginalized. My Jewish faith is what first drove me to public service. The Jewish concept of tikkun olam — our responsibility to repair the world — is not just a religious tenet but a moral call to action. It’s why we’ve always shown up to defend others. Yet now, as antisemitism surges to record levels, many progressive organizations and leaders who once stood with us have gone quiet; or worse, turned their backs entirely. It’s no longer just about Israeli policy. The line between anti-Zionism and antisemitism has been crossed so many times it’s barely a line at all. “Zionist” has become a stand-in for “Jew,” and the message is clear: Unless you disavow the world’s only Jewish state, your place in many progressive spaces is no longer welcome. The picture is sobering. There have been calls to ban “Zionists” from Pride events. Many women’s groups have shrugged at Hamas’ rape of Israeli women. And the Democratic nominee for mayor of America’s most populous city has a pattern of antisemitic rhetoric and has refused to condemn the hurtful call to “globalize the intifada,” a rallying cry that has been used to incite violence against Jews. This didn’t happen overnight, but the silence from many who claim to fight for justice has been deafening and deeply painful. I know what it feels like to be targeted for who you are. In January 2020, shortly after I became the first woman and the first Jewish Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, the FBI uncovered a plot to assassinate me. Two members of a neo-Nazi domestic terrorist group had targeted me. It was the most serious of many threats I received during my time as Speaker. Thankfully, law enforcement intervened in time. But the threat was real, and it reminded me that hatred knows no single party or ideology. We’ve long seen this kind of extremist hate on the right, but today that same danger is rising on both extremes of the ideological spectrum. Antisemitism spreads under different names but with the same devastating consequences. Now, with the recent war between Israel and Iran, we’re likely to see a fresh wave of anti-Zionism and antisemitism. It is already giving rise to a new round of dangerous conspiracy theories laced with antisemitic tropes: accusing American Jews of dual loyalty; suggesting we control foreign policy; and portraying Jewish political engagement as part of a shadowy cabal influencing Washington. This is a moment of moral testing. Will our leaders speak clearly and forcefully against antisemitism, even when it’s politically inconvenient? Will those who champion diversity and inclusion apply those values to Jews as well? And will we be honest about how bad actors have exploited division, stoked extremism and enabled those who traffic in hate? Just as many Americans oppose President Donald Trump’s leadership while still loving this country and believing in its promise, the same is true for Israel. You can criticize or reject Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government and still support Israel’s right to exist, to defend itself and to thrive as a Jewish and democratic state. That distinction matters. Criticizing a government is not the same as condemning a people; but when it comes to Israel, that line is too often deliberately blurred. We must be able to hold leaders accountable without fueling hatred or questioning a nation’s fundamental legitimacy. Antisemitism is not merely a problem faced by Jews — it is a bellwether for the health of our democracy. When a society tolerates hatred against one group, it gives license to hate others. When threats against public servants go unchallenged, violence becomes normalized. I was reminded of that tragic reality when my friend and former counterpart, former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, was executed in her home along with her husband, Mark. Authorities say her killer was a politically motivated extremist who had compiled a list of Democratic lawmakers. Melissa was a principled leader and a friend. Her death was a heartbreaking loss and a flashing red warning sign for the tolerance of hate in our democracy. We cannot afford to treat this moment as normal. It is time for our allies to rejoin us. To speak up when we are threatened. To see antisemitism for what it is: a growing, dangerous force that must be confronted head-on. Because if we wait until it affects everyone, it will already be too late. Eileen Filler Corn is a JEI Board Member and Former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, and the only ever Jewish speaker in VA
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Letter to House Judiciary Committee on Anti-Semitism

July 1, 2025
July 1, 2025 U.S. House Committee On The Judiciary 2142 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 Now in our ninth year, the nationally and internationally recognized Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), an independent, non-partisan, non-profit organization, continues to serve as the barometer for the Jewish electorate. We are therefore honored to submit the following Comments for the Record to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee in support of its June 24, 2025, hearing on antisemitism - Rising Threat: America’s Battle Against Antisemitic Terror. This hearing, punctuated by the moving testimony of Matt Nosanchuk, reminded us that Jewish safety in America is not a political football - it is a national imperative. Nosanchuk, a former senior official in both the Obama and Biden Administrations and a lifelong advocate against antisemitism, laid bare the stark realities we face. The murder of Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, who were attending a Jewish community event just blocks from his home, brought the crisis home - literally and painfully. It also underscored a chilling truth: this could have been any one of us. Antisemitism today does not discriminate based on geography, profession, or even political identity. Nosanchuk rightly challenged both ends of the political spectrum. From the right, we've seen rising indulgence of white nationalist rhetoric, normalization of Nazi imagery, and an embrace of conspiracy theorists. When antisemitism is tolerated—or worse, weaponized—by public officials and influential institutions, it emboldens violence and undermines the rule of law. The example of the pardoning of the person wearing a “Camp Auschwitz” shirt at the riot on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not just shocking to the Jewish community – it was symptomatic of a deeper, corrosive tolerance for hate. From the left, antisemitism also too often masquerades as political critique. When Jews are asked to renounce their ties to Israel to participate in coalitions, or when pro-Palestinian activism turns violent against Jews, with intimidating targeted rhetoric and violence, that’s not solidarity – it’s exclusion and scapegoating. Our Jewish identity should never be a precondition for political participation. What we need is not partisan grandstanding, but comprehensive action. That includes implementing the Biden Administration’s well-thought-out National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, restoring funding for civil rights enforcement at the Justice Department, and condemning hate, regardless of its ideological source. Nosanchuk’s call for education, prevention, and cross-community solidarity is exactly right. In closing, it’s our view at JEI that using antisemitism as cover for draconian immigration or university policies erodes the democratic institutions that have allowed Jewish life to flourish. Fighting hate must not become an excuse to violate civil liberties - ours or anyone else’s. Our safety as Jews has always been linked to the safety of others. In this perilous moment, we must demand more than soundbites. We must demand seriousness, solidarity, and above all, solutions. We are grateful to the Committee for having held this vital hearing at a perilous moment for American Jews. Sincerely, Barbara Goldberg Goldman Chairperson The Jewish Electorate Institute

JEI Statement on escalation and Support on Israel Security

June 18, 2025
Washington, DC — As hostilities between Israel and Iran intensify, the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI), a nonpartisan political nonprofit, is calling on Congress to take all necessary measures to support Israel’s security, halt Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and help bring the hostages home.